An important part of Dayco Australia’s motorsport program is the nurturing of new engineering and technical talent within the automotive industry with the company’s long-term support of the Melbourne-based Monash University Formula Student racing team.
This outstanding young Australian team has once again competed strongly on the global Formula Student stage, racing to victory for the first time against universities from all over the world at Britain’s historic home of motorsport, Silverstone during July.
The Australian team raced to overall first place with its internal combustion engine-powered car and finished third overall with its electric-powered car, with both Monash Motorsport cars using integral Dayco engine components to control thermal management and performance.
Integral to achieving this success was the opportunity for the Monash Motorsport team to test prior to the competition in Europe with some of the highest-performing Formula Student teams in world. The Dayco-sponsored team was invited to attend an extremely selective competition practice event hosted by Bosch at the company’s automotive proving ground facility located in Boxberg, Germany. This event, attended by 30 of the best combustion, electric and driverless Formula Student teams in the world, allowed the Australian team to replicate competition conditions. They completed this using both of their cars and with each of their competition drivers, giving the team vital testing experience prior to competing.
Monash Motorsport overcame many challenges during the competition at Silverstone, with more than 100 global teams taking part. The team’s electric car, the M17-E, achieved 10th place overall for acceleration, seventh for Skidpad and third for Autocross. The team’s combustion car, the M17-C, set its fastest ever acceleration time of 4.11 seconds, scoring a seventh overall placing along with fourth for Skidpad and second in Autocross.
Both Dayco-equipped Monash Motorsport cars set very competitive times throughout the Endurance event, with the M17-C and M17-E finishing first and second respectively and ultimately scoring the most points across all the Dynamics-based events.
The Monash Motorsport team was ecstatic to have achieved an overall first place with its combustion car and an overall third place for its electric car – and to have won its first-ever international competition in Monash Motorsport history. The Melbourne-based team gained a huge amount of online media exposure and international recognition with this win, along with major interest from the global automotive engineering community.
“Dayco Australia is delighted to be a long-term supporter of Monash University’s Formula Student program and congratulates this talented young Australian racing team on their first-ever international victory. We are also proud that a number of Dayco components have contributed to this success and wish the team more victories in the future,” said Arnold Mouw, Dayco vice president, aftermarket Asia Pacific.
Monash Motorsport now heads to the Formula Student Austrian and German events, seeking to continue flying the Aussie flag proudly from the top steps of the podium.
